22 May 2023

Christianity: It’s a Religion (Not Just a Relationship)

/
You’ve heard the mantra a dozen times: “Christianity is not a religion; it’s a relationship.” This statement is quite wrong. Firstly, because it’s a false dichotomy (can’t it be both?), but secondly because if we have to choose, Christianity is more fundamentally a religion than it is a relationship.  The trouble here is our definition of a religion....
Read More
26 Apr 2023

The Future of Pro-Abortion Arguments

/
Posted By
A recent Wired article fascinated me. It began with the line, “One day, human wombs will no longer be necessary for bearing children.” It continued, highlighting the scientific advances that make it quite probable that there will be artificial wombs in factories within the foreseeable future. Of course, this is a fascinating topic on its...
Read More
29 Mar 2023

Love Covers Sins

/
Posted By
As Peter considers the coming eschatological end of all things, he appeals to his readers to “above all have constant love for one another” (1 Pet 4:8). The statement, “above all” indicates that this is the most important principle out of those he provides in this context. The centrality of love is not surprising. Of...
Read More
23 Mar 2023

Free and Informed Choices

/
Each spring I teach a section in a third-year pastoral course aimed at helping aspiring pastors deal with change and conflict in churches. I have been doing it for years, but the escalating level of tension in our culture that is seeping into churches and ministries has given me an even greater sense of urgency...
Read More
20 Mar 2023

Reviewing Bonhoeffer’s Seminary Vision

/
I have not engaged substantially in the study of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Most of the celebrity that Bonhoeffer has earned is in the spheres of ethics, piety, and courage (and he rightly merits our admiration on those counts); still, I have been concerned that unqualified celebration of these traits might unwittingly commend as well his theology,...
Read More
8 Mar 2023

Assumptions Affect Interactions

/
Please allow me to share three anecdotes before making some comments about how our assumptions can affect our interactions. All come from the early 1990s when I was working on a DMin at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS). How Long Did It Take…? One day, during the lunch break of a day-long class, another student...
Read More
1 Mar 2023

Learning from History, not Reacting to It

/
It’s commonly said that hindsight is 20/20, but that simply isn’t the case. In fairness, most people use it not to claim that their interpretation of past events is perfect, but only that it is easier to see things more clearly after the fact. I agree with that. We should, though, be reflective in our...
Read More
27 Feb 2023

The Evangelistic Power of Biblical Marriage 

/
Posted By
In 1 Peter 2:11–12, Peter argues that believers should live “good lives among the pagans” with the goal that unbelievers would see the believers’ “good deeds and glorify God.” From 2:13–3:7, Peter lays out the various ways this can be accomplished: by citizens submitting to governing authorities (2:13–17), by slaves being submissive to their masters...
Read More
17 Feb 2023

What Should We Make of the Events at Asbury?

/
Evaluating the credibility of historical revivals is not a new exercise in the history of the Church. We are made aware that the multiplied “awakenings” of early American history are not all of a sort, and that some proved more credible than others. Iain Murray’s Revival and Revivalism is a particularly fine examination of these. Better known...
Read More